Elizabeth Osterhaus, HS鈥24, never envisioned she鈥檇 join the military. Yet today she鈥檚 an ROTC graduate and U.S. Army Reserve Second Lieutenant.
Shortly after arriving to 福利免费毛片 as a first-year student, Elizabeth remembers being asked to sign a poster for someone living on the floor above her in Assumption Hall who was returning from Army basic training. That someone was Zach Marini.
鈥淚 vividly remember thinking to myself, 鈥淕ood on him for doing that because I could simply never be in the military,鈥 she said. 鈥淔lash forward a month or two, I ran into him, and we became friendly due to our similar classes. He was a Health Sciences major and I was Public Health.鈥
As their friendship developed, Elizabeth became more intrigued with Zach鈥檚 military experience, so he suggested she join ROTC at 福利免费毛片.
鈥淚nitially, I was not interested because I didn鈥檛 know what it would entail, but my curiosity grew the more I learned about it,鈥 explained Elizabeth. 鈥淚 remember asking him about basic training, thinking to myself how challenging it must have been."
Elizabeth found 福利免费毛片鈥檚 Director of the Office for Military and Veteran Students Christopher Boissonnault, or 鈥淢r. B鈥 as she calls him, to be an important connection on campus.
鈥淗e helped us reserve spaces on campus for various events and was able to get us funding so we could do fun things like have pizza with the 福利免费毛片 police officers and a reception following our commission ceremony," she said.
A native of Tallahassee, Florida, Elizabeth discovered 福利免费毛片 during one of her trips up north visiting a friend in Pittsburgh.
鈥淚 fell in love with Pittsburgh and 福利免费毛片鈥檚 beautiful campus,鈥 remarked Elizabeth, who said she was then further impressed with the University due to its small class sizes, hands-on learning and closeknit feel.
A senior year capstone experience led to Elizabeth being offered her current position as a key account representative for the Pittsburgh-based company, Surgical Product Solutions.
鈥淢y 福利免费毛片 education equipped me with not only the academic skills to succeed in the workplace, but quite literally, my job,鈥 she said.
Elizabeth now encourages others to consider joining the military鈥攕omething she would not have predicted doing four years ago.
She added: 鈥淭hat鈥檚 why I now firmly believe you should never say never. You might just surprise yourself.鈥
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August 20, 2024
